DivideBySheepisanewmathpuzzlerthatequatestofun

Divide By Sheep ($2.99) by tinyBuild LLC is a dark and humorous math puzzle game that will keep you entertained for hours. If you enjoyed math games like Threes! and Noda, but wanted even more personality and charm in the game, then Divide By Sheep is a perfect fit.

As I went through my school years, I learned that I was not much of a math person, even though I was pretty decent at it (much more rusty now though). Still, I retained enough basic math knowledge so that I can easily figure out math puzzle games, which seem to be more and more popular these days. I’m a fan of the creative titles that come from tinyBuild, such as Spoiler Alert, so I was eager to get my hands on Divide By Sheep when I first heard of it. I mean, who can resist a game with cute little sheep in it?

The visuals in Divide By Sheep are gorgeous, featuring a blocky, voxel-like style that has been made popular by games like Minecraft. The game world is bright and colorful, and the characters are rather endearing. Plus, the comic-style cutscenes are beautifully drawn, and pretty tongue-in-cheek, so you’ll get a good laugh or two out of them. Animations in Divide By Sheep are smooth and fluid, with no lag on my iPhone 6. The game soundtrack is upbeat and quirky, and the sound effects are delightful.

Since Divide By Sheep is a puzzle game, it is based on levels. The game features four different worlds with 30 levels each, so there are 120 stages for you to flick and divide through. There are three goals on each stage that will get you a star, but only if you can meet the requirement exactly. No star is earned if you go over the goal, so there is a lot of thinking and planning involved with this game.

So what are the objectives in the game? Each stage shows you three numbers on the left side. The number represents the amount of sheep (or wolves or pigs) you need to get on the raft and deliver to Grim (who is in search of friends) in order to earn a star. To get the animals on to the raft, you will have to use your finger to flick them to adjacent platforms, but you have to keep an eye on the number of creatures too. You’ll lose animals if there is not enough space, or if you are tossing some sheep on to a platform filled with hungry wolves. There will also be other obstacles that you’ll encounter later on, such as fences, laser walls, and even a Kraken. The trajectory line will have a green marker to indicate a possible move, while impossible jumps display a red marker.

Divide By Sheep has one of the most unique math puzzle concepts out there, and I’m in love with it. There is even a bit of replay value, since you’ll have to go back and think of other solutions to get three stars on a stage. There is also Game Center integration for 14 achievements, but no leaderboards since there is no point system, just stars.

I’ve been playing Divide By Sheep since the beta stages, and it is fun and enjoyable. The visual style is lovely, the music and sounds are gratifying, and the controls are simple to learn, though the gameplay itself is a real challenge. Even if you are not a math person, Divide By Sheep is a puzzle game that is worth your time.